“I really hope for there to be a big crash. That would probably be the only way to get a place for myself.”

Deborah Cheng has resigned herself to staying with her parents for a few more years unless Vancouver’s housing bubble bursts.
“I really hope for there to be a big crash. That would probably be the only way to get a place for myself,” said Ms. Cheng, a 30-year-old administrative assistant.
She’s saved $90,000, hoping to put a 30-per-cent down payment on a home. But in Vancouver – where the average price of a detached house this year is $732,736, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association – her options in the $300,000 price range are older-studio and one-bedroom units in high-rise buildings.
“You find out that the building is pretty run-down and you might have to pay a lot for repairs in the near future.”
– from ‘For many, new mortgage rules put home ownership out of reach’, G&M, 21 Jun 2012

10 responses to ““I really hope for there to be a big crash. That would probably be the only way to get a place for myself.””

its started but it will take years for the bottom to be put in-just like what has happened in the USA. i have seen many homes pulled off the market after a few price drops…there are so many houses for sale in vancouver and so many that have been pulled and will be listed if market picks up. endless supply and no demand as most people who wanted in are in by now.- will result in a crash down to reality. it will be great for the city in the long-run. everyone will have to come up with something to talk about besides , where you own and how much you are up – it has ruined this city- for now….but not forever. BM

Oh come now. It isn’t like she’s a flush potential buyer who thinks she can get a better deal if she waits. As a single admin assistant, she’s likely severely constrained by debt service ratios even with her ample down payment; she doesn’t want to live in the places she can currently afford. Now if she bought one of those places anyway, hoping to build equity toward a place she actually wanted to live in — THAT would be speculating.

Sure Ralph, nonetheless I’m sensing a small bit of “something for nothing” in there. I applaud wanting lower prices — all buyers want them — I’m actually having a hard time separating the various forms of greed.

Ms Cheng single? I can tell you that at age 30 the energy to get ‘in the family way’ is overpowering. Saturn makes its return to the same position at birth. Astrologers working for the television networks know this acutely, and have designed programs that satisfy family urges by first hitching marriageable women to mortgages. Let’s hope Ms Cheng has the discipline to not get suckered. She seems to be succeeding. Perhaps with her $90,000 she can buy a respectful abode in say Mackenzie, B.C. where there screaming for workers, and where there is ample housing stock available.